What's In A Name
by Philomel A. B. Houtman
Summary: Ever wondered how Harry was named? Meet his namesake, Harriet Brennan...
1. Chapter 1

**How Harry was named**

_**The public have often wondered how Harry Potter was named. It is not a family name, it isn't a particularly original name. Those who knew Lily and James Potter were a little mystified when they announced, almost in tears, the name of their first, and though they didn't know it then, only child. They could not imagine what had caused this. Few remembered that there was once a girl nicknamed Harry, who attended Hogwarts School of Withcraft and Wizardry...**_

**I **_**almost **_**hate Valentine's Day. Most of it is horrible! First of all, there's the...the **_**pink-**_**ness! I hate pink! And it's **_**everywhere**_**! Pink decorations of all shade cover the castle. To make it worse, it usually involves little frilly hearts. And other little frilly, girly things, like the doilies found everywhere in McGonagall's classroom. I **_**know**_**! McGonagall and little pink frilly doilies don't mix! **

**It just gets worst. There's all the snogging. There is no safe place to escape the nauseating site of, say, Frank and Alice, slobering all over each other! Not to mention the lovesick comments couples are exchanging. Blah! I like romantic, but not **_**too**_** much. Some of the things they said...it makes me want to give them a good whack in the head as they stare gooey-eyes at each other. **

**And the gifts! **_**Way**_** too cheesy. A bouquet of roses?! Oh, how **_**original**_**. **

**But there is one, and only one, redeeming quality to Valentine's day. And that is...drumroll please...CHOCOLATE!!**

**I love chocolate. I have a hidden stash in my room, under enchantment so that nobody but me (unless given my permission) can access it. I have every kind of chocolate you can think of. All my friends know by now that all I want for Christmas is books (which I also adore) and large jumbo bars of chocolate (or many small chocolate bars in bulk). **

**So, as I entered into the Great Hall that fateful morning, for the last Valentine's Day of my stay at Hogwarts, I had a huge smile on my face. Why, you wonder? Did I not just say that I hated Valentine's Day? It was because there were mounds of chocolate placed strategically on the House tables, and my friends have just happened to find themselves right in front of those wonderful strategically placed mountains of chocolate. I felt like those chocolates were just waiting to be enjoyed by the tastebuds of I, Harriet Corinne Brennan. **

**Alice waved at me.**

**"Harry, we kept this spot just for you!"**

**"Thank you!" I gushed to Alice and Lily.**

**I sat down, so happy that I made my wand throw mini-fireworks above my head.**

**They all laughed at me, and I sat down laughing with them, but then I saw the chocolate right in front of me. My mouth watered.**

**I'm sure by then my eyes were shining and it looked like I worshipped the chocolate.**

**Hmm...are there chocolate gods? Wait, I've already discussed this with the girls one night when we were being silly. **

**I lifted my hand to take one of the chocolates, and the whole mound disappeared.**

**I gasped. **

**"Where did it go?" I whined.**

**Alice and Lily again laughed at me, so I knew it was them who took it.**

**"Spare me, oh great chocolate gods! I promise that I will worship you more often if you give me my chocolate back!" I said dramatically.**

**People around us were either looking at us as if we were mad, or smiling slightly (or snogging in a corner with their girlfriend/boyfriend), but we chose to ignore them (especially the ones snogging in a corner). **

**Unfortunately, that meant that we also attracted the attention of a certain group of boys (not men, but boys), who called themselves, you guessed it, the Marauders.**

**"Oh, Lily..." I heard James Potter call .**

**I rolled my eyes with my friends, and in unison (we had practice), we said:**

**"Ignore."**

**And we ignored the whole lot of them. Though they were trying their best to catch our attention. I sighed. Don't they (or more specifically, James) know by now that we (or more specifically Lily) were not going to talk to them? My happy-chocolate mood evaporated, and the horrible-Valentine's day one started to seep in. My friends noticed as soon as they saw me staring murderously at a doily on the table. They hurriedly made the chocolate reappear, and we stuffed ourselves. Then we went outside (bringing more chocolate), underneath the beech tree, melting the small amount of snow around it. **

**"So, Evans, if I give you chocolate, will you go out with me?"**

**Again, because of extensive practice, my friends and I, simultaneously turned our heads and glare at the Marauders, who seemingly followed us. They flinched. Ha! They can't stand our glares! **

**"Potter, the only time I'll go out with you, is when hell freezes over!" Lily said to him, coolly.**

**"She'd rather go out with the giant squid!" said Alice.**

**"And she would rather be trampled by...er...flock...er...herd...er...pride of hippogriffs!" I stumbled, "or endure Valentine's Day in Madam Puddifoot's tea house!" I finished, proud of my recovery.**

**"I thought all girls liked Madam Puddifoot's," said Sirius, confused.**

**"Ah yes, and we also all love to wear pots as hats and scream 'the English are coming!'" I said, rolling my eyes.**

**I saw his frown in confusion. Really, he could be thick-headed sometimes.**

**I then shifted position on the ground, and fell into the lake. **

**I surfaced spluttering, and noticed that now the girls were in stitches, and the Marauders were grinning broadly.**

**I pretended to look indignant.**

**"That's right! Laugh at me! Some kind of friends you are! It would serve you right if I got eaten by the giant squid, and then you would forever feel guilty because you laughed at me." **

**I swam to the side, freezing (I mean, it is February) and climbing up to the ground, did something that only I could do in a situation like this: I slipped and fell right back in.**

**I finally managed to get back on dry ground, teeth chattering. I used two spells to dry and them warm myself up. I grinned broadly. **

**"That was refreshing," I said. **

**My friends smiled back, shaking their heads at me.**

**"Shouldn't you go to the Hospital Wing? I mean, you just fell into a freezing lake," said Remus, slightly concerned.**

**"Oh no, she doesn't have to," said Lily,"She fell in so often that we all learned the spells to dry off and warm up."**

**"Yep, that's our Harry," said Alice,"Always the one who gets into strange situations. But we love her even though she's a klutz."**

**I glared at Alice.**

**"What? It's true!" she said.**

**I rolled my eyes, and reached to our pile of chocolate. I searched through the discarded wrappers to find one. **

**"There's no more chocolate!" I said mournfully.**

**Sirius reached into his pocket.**

**"I have one," he said, a chocolate in hand. He waved it in front of my nose.**

**"Harry, you've already had at least two dozens of them, and we haven't even had our first class yet!" Lily said, chastising.**

**We all froze. **

**"First class!" We were late!**

**We ran into the castle, but not before I took the offered chocolate with a hurried 'Thank you!'. **

**"They were actually civil to us!" I heard James say as we left hurriedly.**

**"Well, they weren't paying much attention to us," noted Remus.**

**"Harry said 'thank you' to me," said Sirius proudly.**

**"Yeah, I guess it's progress," said Peter, sounding doubtful, looking at James and Sirius for approval.**

**"Of course it is!" said James jovially. **

**How were we to know that those short moments of civility would trigger a series of events that would change our lives? **


	2. Chapter 2

I, slightly faster than the other three girls, arrived in class first, swinging the door wide open. It hit the wall with a bang, and I winced when the whole class turned to look at me. I tried my best not to blush. Underneath all my pranks and my loud talk, I was terrified of attention. As a child, I hadn't even been able to talk to strangers without someone I knew close by. When I'd moved from America to England four years ago, to live with my mother, it had taken me a whole month to manage summon enough courage to talk to Lily, who'd welcomed me with open arms. Of course, Lily and Alice had helped get rid of my shyness, but I still had my moments. Like now, as the whole class stared at me very, very intently.

I froze for a moment in the doorway, and before I could recover, I was hit by something very large, or more specifically, I was hit by many large someones as they ran into the class. And so, that was how Lily, Alice and I made our infamous entrance that day, in a confused mass of flailing limbs and screeches.

I heard the snickers from the class, and I knew that my face was burning. Mrs. McGonagall's shrill voice cut through the noise.

"Miss Evans, Miss Brennan, and Miss Fortescue! You are late!"

I thought she was stating the obvious but I thought it would be wise to hold my tongue. Mrs. McGonagall rounded on Lily.

"I expected much more from our Head Girl, Miss Evans," she scolded scathingly. I saw Lily slowly turn red in embarrassment (the plight of all redheads). I gave her a look of sympathy, and she smiled at me wryly in return.

"Detentions for all of you!"

My mouth dropped. Detention? We'd never had detention! We usually managed to charm our way out of them!

"But-" I began.

Suddenly, the door swung open violently again, and the Marauders piled into class, breathing heavily. Mrs. McGonagall's face went into high dungeon. Somewhere in the back of my head I knew this was all happening because I hated Valentine's Day. It was bad karma or something like that.

"And you four!" she stormed, "I will no longer tolerate tardiness from you! Detention for you also! I will assign separate nights to you all, because goodness knows I can't put you together! You'll disturb the whole castle."

She looked pointedly at James and Lily, who glanced at each other uneasily. I though it was a rather unfair accusation, as they had been getting along much better since the beginning of the year. They lived in the same dormitory, for God's sake! They had to get along! Sirius obviously agreed with my assessment, and being much more vocal, and much stupider than I, he decided to tell her.

"That's unfair!" he protested, "We haven't caused that much trouble with them this year!" I tried to clear my throat to get his attention as I noticed Mrs. McGonagall's expression turn blacker and blacker at every word.

"Lily and James have been getting along just fine, in fact they've been getting along _very _well," he looked at them suggestively. Alice and I immediately whirled to look at Lily, who looked like she wanted to be anywhere but where she was.

"What?" I yelled.

"What does that mean?" Alice cried simultaneously. Lily winced.

Sirius continued over our outraged voices.

"In fact, we had a civil conversation today by the lake," he finished with a satisfied nod. I wanted to groan. And maybe hit him on the head. Or somewhere else more appropriate.

"If you're all such great friends then," Mrs. McGonagall said scathingly, "you can spend detention together!"

All anyone in the class could do was stare at her. Had she gone mad? Put us in the same room with the Marauders for a extended period of time? Did she want the four boys to die an unfortunate death by the hands of three very annoyed witches?

"I will see you all Friday night at 8:00 sharp. If any of you are late, I will double the number of detentions for all of you! Now, go sit down!"

Mute, we proceeded to do so. Jeez. Did she wake up on the wrong side of the bed today or something? She was much more scary today than usual.

We sat for the first five minutes of class we were completely silent, smiling innocently when McGonagall looked suspiciously our way. When she finally was absorbed in her lesson, Alice and I turned to Lily.

"What did Sirius mean?" Alice demanded.

"I think it's rather obvious," I muttered.

Lily turned red again. "I didn't...we didn't...I didn't mean to!" she blurted out finally.

"You didn't mean to?" I asked, eyebrows raised. "What, did you trip and fall into his arms?"

"Well, sort of..." Lily hesitated. At our expectant looks, she blew out a breath.

"We were patrolling," she began.

"Alone," Alice supplied.

"In the quiet, deserted corridors of Hogwarts," I added.

Lily glared at us. "Yes," she said tersely," and then we were talking, and he was trying to explain why he turned Dumbledore's beard green," her expression turned dreamy, "and he was so funny, stumbling over his words, so nervous that I wouldn't approve."

"How did you know he was nervous?" Alice asked, mystified.

"He was constantly running his hand through his hair," she explained, "And it stuck up everywhere. I was having trouble keeping in my laughter, and then suddenly it just...happened."

"What happened?" demanded Alice.

"Alice," I explained patiently, "when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much..."

"No, no!" Lily protested quickly, eyes wide, "there was none of...that. Just..."

"Snogging?" I suggested.

"Oh yes," she nodded, her eyes going dreamy again. I recognized with horror the gooey-eye look she was giving. Images of James/Lily snogging with pink doilies in the background danced in my head. I regulated my breath carefully, trying not to hyperventilate.

Alice looked completely shocked. I raised my eyebrows at her, mystified. She widened her eyes, trying to communicate a message to me. I mouthed 'what?' at her. She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. With exaggerated motions, she pointed at Lily, made a heart with her hand, then pointed at James. I suddenly understood.

"Holy shit!" I yelled.

The whole class turned as one. I drummed my fingers nervously, and laughed a little hysterically.

"Something you'd like to share, Miss Brennan?" McGonagall asked severely.

"Nothing, nothing," I said with another nervous laugh, "I though I saw a...troll in the window." I finished lamely.

There were more snickers in the class. Lily mouthed 'troll' at me incredulously. I ignored her studiously.

"Troll?" McGonagall said, unknowingly mirroring Lily.

"But I was wrong," I said quickly. "It was just Crabbe walking by."

There was outright laughter at that. I grinned, but at McGonagall's look, I put on a serious expression immediately. She turned away after giving me a warning look

I returned to the more immediate problem and grabbed Lily by the shoulders.

"You're in love with him!" I hissed.

She turned dead white.

"No, I'm not," she denied, her eyes shifting slightly.

"Lily Evans, so help me God, if you keep on lying to me I will make sure you are banned from the library!" I continued to whisper-scream.

Both Alice and Lily's jaws dropped.

"You can't do that," Lily immediately dismissed me.

Alice looked at me closely, evaluating my determination.

"I think she serious," she told Lily slowly.

Lily searched my face, and her eyes widened.

"You're serious," she realized.

I waited patiently, leaning back in my chair.

"I may like him a little," she admitted finally.

I waited longer, drumming my fingers.

"Perhaps a little more than a little," she continued.

I yawned.

"A lot?" she tried.

Alice put her head in her hands.

"Fine, I'm bloody in love with him!" she hissed between clenched teeth.

I immediately smiled beatifically.

"I knew it," I said smugly.

"Miss Brennan! This is your last warning! Next time I will give you two more detentions!"

"Sorry, Professor," I quickly apologized, batting my eyelashes at her.

We paused for a few seconds, then huddled our heads.

"But he's not in love with me," Lily continued with despair.

Alice and I stared at her.

"Lily," Alice said slowly, "read my lips. He is in love with you. He has been since..." She paused to think. "For as long as I can remember."

"As long as I've been, that's for sure," I added.

Lily shook her head sadly.

"No," she contradicted," he hasn't asked me out once this year."

"He hasn't?" I echoed in surprise. "Not even after you..."

"Not even then," Lily finished firmly.

I didn't know what to say. Looking at Alice's puzzled face, I assumed she didn't either. The three of us looked at each other, confused. Lily sighed, and placed propped her head on her hand, listening to McGonagall's droning without interest. Looking at her dejected expression, I felt a wave of fierce love and loyalty. By God, I was going to get Lily and James together, if it was the last thing I'd do.


	3. Chapter 3

needed a plan. A devious plan. A plan to outmatch all other plans in the history of forever! A plan that will outdo all my other previous (evil) plans.

Too bad I couldn't think of one.

I was walking down the corridor, heading towards detention. The bare stone floors did little to muffle the sounds of my steps; it sounded like an elephant was stomping through the castle. I snorted and glared at my overlarge feet. They were the one part of my body that I didn't like. But had I had a chance, genetically speaking, with two parents who had equally large feet? No! Life was so unfair.

I smiled at all the paintings waving at me from their frames. I loved the paintings here. Before I'd made friends with Lily and Alice, the people of these paintings had been my only confidants. Now, I visited now and then, chatting and occasionally sparring with the painting of the knight close to the Divination classroom. I ran my hands on the tapestries, feeling the soft weave beneath my fingers. I sighed happily. Despite McGonagall, despite detention and the Marauders, I adored Hogwarts. I hadn't had magic as a child, being completely Muggle-born. Living at Hogwarts was like living in a perpetual fairytale.

Wait, I was supposed to be thinking of a plan! Come on, think. Plan, plan, plan, plan...

A noise behind me shocked me out of my reveries. I whirled around suspiciously. The corridor was deserted. Nothing but tapestry and paintings...

Hold on a second. Why were the paintings all empty suddenly?

A foreboding began in the pit of my stomach, and spread throughout my body. I tried to reason with myself. If I made so much noise walking through the corridor, surely I would hear someone approaching. It could be a ghost, maybe. I cleared my throat nervously.

"Peeves?" I tried, my voice weak.

My voice echoed in the corridor. Nothing answered me. My hand went instinctively to my pocket, gripping my wand with sweaty fingers.

"BOO!"

I shrieked as Peeves appeared in front of me, a large grimace on his face. I tried to slap him, but that, of course, didn't work. I kicked out in pure frustration, and cried out in pure rage.

"I'm going to tell on you to the bloody Bloody Baron, you damned sorry excuse for a otherworldly spirit! Can't you just be a normal ghost?"

He completely ignored me, his loud guffaws filling the empty corridor. I glared at him.

"I'm serious. I'll go see the Bloody Baron right now," I threatened, narrowing my eyes at him for good measure.

His laugh cut off immediately. He glared at me, and made a rather dramatic exit, turning around abruptly and knocking over a suit of armor I hadn't even noticed until then. Halfway down the corridor, I heard him sing.

_Empty, empty, all alone_

_Little Harriet should go home_

_She doesn't know what's coming_

_She doesn't know what's happening_

_Poor little Harriet, cold and alone_

The hairs on the nape of my neck lifted.

"That barely rhymed!" I called half-heartedly after him. I just heard sinister, ghostly laughter from the end of the corridor.

Suddenly, the emptiness of the place seem to loom around me. I rubbed my arms, thinking I was being silly. I was a witch, for goodness sake. I could take care of myself.

But then, they were witches and wizards too.

I shook my head, and began walking towards detention again, my step getting faster and faster. I couldn't shake off my feeling that something was wrong. My instincts were clamoring for me to run, and I kept glancing behind me. The torches burned merrily in the empty, empty corridor. It seemed almost anticlimactic. It should be dark and dank, like a Poe story. I didn't even realized I was running until sudden movement and noise in front of me made me jump about ten feet in the air. Once the initial shock wore off, I realized it was the Marauders. They'd arrived from the adjacent corridor, also heading for the corridor, joking and wrestling playfully.

"Oh, it's just you," I panted. It was probably the first time I'd ever felt relief when seeing them.

Their laughing faces sobered immediately when they saw me. They stopped in their tracks. I was surprised when a concerned James spoke to me.

"Harriet? Is everything all right?"

It was the first time he'd spoken my name. I supposed I must have looked shaken. As if reading my mind, Sirius took a step towards me.

"You're white as sheet," he informed me, looking extremely anxious.

"I'm fine," I said, through strangely numb lips. "Peeves just gave me a scare, that's all." I glanced behind me compulsively, as if to make sure that the corridor really was empty.

Remus followed my gaze, eyes narrowed.

"Must have been quite a scare," he said finally.

"Hey!" said Peter, ignoring the conversation, "All the portraits are empty!"

The three other boys looked up to see. I didn't have to, since I'd already noticed. I still felt shaken, and wrapped my arms around myself for comfort.

"You're shaking."

I blinked when I realized Sirius was right beside me.

"Oh," I said, not really knowing what to say. "I didn't notice."

He put his hand firmly on my arm, giving me a forceful grin.

"Walk with us, we'll protect you from evil Peeves," he said, a little pompously.

The three other Marauders all nodded when Sirius looked at them for confirmation. I managed a weak smile. I would have never believed that the Marauders would protect me from anything. I took a step towards them, but my legs were so shaky that I stumbled. I blushed, but Sirius, with a serene smile, took me by the arm and escorted me to the others as if nothing had happened. Soon, I was flanked by James and Sirius, who was still holding me by the arm, with Remus and Peter beside us. I couldn't understand why I was so scared. It was just Peeves, for goodness sake. How many time had he scared me before now? Too many to count.

_Don't worry, we'll get you next time, Mudblood._

It was whispered in my ear. I whirled around, gasping. My eyes searched the corridor, wildly. There was no one. Someone touched my shoulder, and I immediately jumped away, only to realize it was Remus.

"What's going on?" he asked, his eyes seeming to see right through me.

I just stared at the corridor, my heartbeat slowing.

"Nothing," I finally said, "I thought I heard something."

And whatever it had been, it seemed to be gone now.

The boys stared at me silently for a moment or two, as if they could read the truth from me by just looking at me. I stared back stubbornly, challenging them with my gaze. I didn't want to talk about it. To be honest, I had my suspicions about who was behind this situation, and I hardly wanted to put them, or anyone, in danger.

"Let's get going before we're late," I said, elbowing past them.

James grabbed my arm before I could get by.

"If you were in danger, you would tell us, wouldn't you?" he asked.

I lifted my eyebrows.

"I wouldn't tell you, Potter, I would tell my _friends_ or a teacher," I responded scathingly.

Sirius suddenly grinned.

"Ah, that's the Harriet Brennan we all know and admire," he said happily. He yawned and casually slung an arm over my shoulders. If looks could kill, he would have been vaporized on the spot.

"Hands off, Black, or I will make sure that every girl who even looks at you is informed that you have some kind of contagious disease," I threatened. He immediately snatched his arm away.

I smiled with superiority. We walked to the detention in silence. It made me feel uncomfortable, as the Marauders I knew never shut up. I finally spotted McGonagall in the distance. She was scowling at us. I glanced at my watch and groaned. Five after eight. We were so late.

At the classroom door, McGonagall gestured to us to go inside. Behind her, I could see Lily and Alice sitting meekly in the front. Before entering the class, I took one last glance down the corridor.

"Hurry, Miss Brennan, you're already late," McGonagall ordered.

I shook my head and entered the classroom. So much for thinking of a plan.


End file.
